(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a submersible vehicle system including a rigid hull submersible component and an inflatable auxiliary submersible component for holding fuel and/or ballast. The submersible vehicle system may be used for a wide variety of underwater missions.
(2) Prior Art
A wide variety of underwater vehicle systems have been developed over the years for a wide variety of purposes. U.S. Pat. No. 3,330,238 to Ghoughasian for example is directed to an underwater propulsion unit to be mated to a submersible such as a submarine, torpedo or underwater missile. The propulsion unit includes an annular shroud formed by two substantially hemispherical sections and a propulsion unit within the shroud.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,522 to Sandler is directed to an on-board recovery system for a submersible such as a torpedo. The recovery system comprises an expandable sleeve surrounding a portion of the torpedo and housed therein in a deflated state. When one wishes to recover the torpedo, the sleeve is expanded to form a doughnut shaped floatation collar.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,205 to Bastide exemplifies a local transport submersible for divers. The submersible includes a main body formed from two hemispherical elements connected by a circular-base cylinder, a system of trim tanks and a lightweight body containing diving ballasts surrounding the main body. The lightweight body has an external shape which is rounded throughout and completely smooth.
Most current undersea submersibles such as torpedoes and unmanned undersea vehicles with conventional thermal or electric power sources are severely limited by the raw amount of fuel that can be carried on-board. These fuel limitations are directly related to the constraints and penalties dictated by the host or mother vessel which initially stores and launches the submersible. Many remotely operated vehicles alter this constraint by providing the energy source over a tether run from the mother submersible to the daughter vehicle. The daughter vehicle usually has electric motors and/or electric/hydraulic systems that need to be powered. Electrical power is supplied to the daughter vehicle over the tether cable from the mother vehicle.
Endurance is only governed by the capacity of the mother vehicle's energy. However, these conventional means of tethering provide large constraints on the mobility and autonomy of both the mother and daughter vehicles, and in the case of unmanned underwater vehicles, restrict mission potential.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a submersible vehicle system which does not suffer from the constraints imposed by prior art systems.
It is a specific object of the present invention to provide a submersible vehicle system as above having enhanced endurance and enhanced mission flexibility.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a submersible vehicle system as above which may be fueled from a mother vessel and/or other fueling stations.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a submersible vehicle system as above which may be launched from a conventional submersible.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become clearer from the following description and drawings in which like reference numerals depict like elements.